Not Too Traumatizing
by LightIsTheKey14
Summary: Aishe didn't let her fear of Gypsies stop her from going to the Feast of Fools, though, she might have thought differently if she had known she would meet one. It turns out, they're not as scary as she had thought. Not ClopinxOC. Please Read and Review!


Aishe couldn't help but watch the procession of people coming through the streets of Paris. The crisp smell of January wasn't the only thing in the air that day. It was, once again, the Feast of Fools, and the 17 year old girl was ecstatic. On any other day, she wouldn't dream of dressing in such a silly manner, but this year, she went all out, wearing a bright red dress with a tare down the back -thanks to her inability to sew- a pirate...ish hat with it's large red feather broken in half, and had drawn whiskers upon her face with soot. She looked lovely...ish.

She had to admit, a large reason for her coming to the festival was the food. There was always a large amount of just about everything strewn here and there for anyone to munch on. Aishe found it hard to believe that Paris contained that much food, to see all the beggars on the streets normally. But this was "Topsy Turvy Day", or however that little rhyme went. What can you expect?

You can sure enough expect the brunette to be munching on a little bit of cheese as the festival kicked into action. She was sitting on a crate, legs crossed, eyes set on the place that- any minuet now- a procession of gypsy dancers in beautiful, colorful outfits would emerge and stun all the pedestrians with their festivities.

Now, Aishe found herself to have quite the appreciation for said gypsies. Even though she had heard pretty near traumatizing stories of them from parents and peers, she had to admit, they new how to throw a party. That was about the only thing she would admit about them. It's not like they scared her... They horrified her, on any other day but this. As much as she loved this celebration, she didn't know what she would do if one approached her.

The cat-pirate-not-seamstress slouched a little bit, excitement taking over her usually mild-mannered body. Her hands, and the remainder of the cheese went in her lap. But, as to expect, just as her mind started to wonder onto some worldly topic like lessons or even boys, she felt a nudging at her leg. She looked down, expecting to find a lost child, as they often ran to her. She still couldn't figure out why. It's not like she was any good with them. With that expectation in mind, she was shocked when she looked down to see a kid of the goat kind standing on it's hind legs, trying to get the cheese from her lap. She practically fell off her crate.

"H-here," she said, forcing herself to do something other than obey her urge to yelp. She put the cheese in her palm, and let the goat gulp it down before patting it's head.

"You're a good-good little guy, aren't ya?"

"Djali! I swear-"

The brightly colored man stopped in mid step as he spotted the goat he had been searching for being petted by some girl.

"Mademoiselle?" He called, trying to get her attention over the crowd. The man, seeing that it didn't work, began to nudge his way through the crowd, using his sharp elbows as daggers until he made it to where said girl was seated.

"Mademoiselle," he repeated, and this time, got a response.

"Bonjour-" she replied absentmindedly, until she looked up and recognized the man on spot. This was the gypsy that always lead the festivities. Last year, he had even used stilts, but soon after kicked them off, so he could swing around on banners and such.

Aishe quickly stood up, and stepped behind the crate she had previously been sitting on. The man put on a good show, but he was still a gypsy. A gypsy that approached her. Her mind stopped thinking. All she could do was stare up at his purple mask that hid the real look on his face. She was trembling.

"I was just... Mademoiselle, are you alright?" he asked, his quick tone of voice slowing down.

She nodded, still completely unsure. Her brain was screaming for her body to respond more, but she was frozen.

"I didn't mean to scare you..."

He took his hat off, and did a slight bow.

"My name is Clopin Trouillefou, and this is Djali," he said, pointing to the goat with his hat.

"Aishe," the girl said nervously, before changing the topic.

"Is she yours?"

"No, my sister's. She's always running off," Clopin said as he put his hat back on.

"We need to get back, so the festival can start. A pleasure meeting you, Miss Aishe."

The gypsy then leaned over the crate separating them, and lightly kissed the top of her hand.

Aishe jerked away, despite the fact that that was a fairly normal occurrence in France.

"Enjoy the festival!" he called, as he carried Djali off in the distance.

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The crowd had doubled in size without Aishe realizing it. She stood up on the crate she had been using, as to see over all the people with their funny hats and children on their shoulders.

"Come one, come all! Leave your loops and milking stools. Coop the hens and pen the mules. Come one, come all! Close the churches and the schools. It's the day for breaking rules.  
Come and join the feast of ..." the girl heard coming around the corner, and then, from the top of a building, rang "Fools!"

The same man that had taken the goat from her what seemed like minuets before was now swinging to the ground, only holding on to some well tied on banners.

"Once a year we throw a party here in town! Once a year we turn all Paris upside down! Ev'ry man's a king and ev'ry king's a clown! Once again it's Topsy Turvy Day!"

The strange singer did a back flip down onto the ground in front of the other performers, and hopped up onto one of the other men's shoulders.

"It's the day the devil in us gets released! It's the day we mock the prig and shock the priest!  
Ev'rything is Topsy Turvy at the Feast of Fools!"

He made faces as he sang, making the children in the crowd giggle, and some even made faces back.

Aishe shot a fist into the air as the whole crowd, herself included, shouted "Topsy Turvy!" at him.

"Ev'rything is upsy daysy!"

"Topsy Turvy!"

The shout was louder this time.

"Ev'ryone is acting crazy! Dross is gold and weeds are a bouquet!"

Clopin rolled off the man's back, and sprang into the crowd, which let him through a lot easier that before.

"That's the way on Topsy Turvy day!"

The crowd peeled away from where he was walking, giving himself enough space to back-flip right to Aishe's box.

"Ready for some embarrassment?" He asked a bit too quickly, before yanking her down from her crate and spinning her in the air.

"Topsy Turvy!" she cried, in a much higher octave than the crowd this time.

"Beat the drums and blow the trumpets!" Clopin sang with the crowd this time, pulling Aishe behind him to rejoin the procession. Before she knew it, she was being lifted onto a man's shoulders, with the mischievous gypsy on another's beside of her.

"Topsy Turvy!" everyone shouted.

Clopin pretended to conduct the crowd as everyone sang, "Join the bums and thieves and strumpets! Streaming in from Chartres to Calais!"

Two men then shot to the front, and the brightly colored man pounced upon them, laying in their arms as if laying on a couch, with one arm behind his head, and one leg dangling off the men's outstretched arms.

"Scurvy knaves are extra scurvy, on the sixth of "Januervy","

He then stood up, balancing solely on the men's outstretched for-arms, and declared, "All because it's Topsy Turvy day!"

The man carrying Aishe deposited her on the sidelines, as Clopin leaped off the men and onto the stage set up in the center of the square.

"Come one, come all! Hurry, hurry, here's your chance! See the myst'ry and romance!"

He swung around on one of the poles holding banners to the stage, and held out his hand to all the ladies in the crowd. Aishe's eyes didn't leave him for a second.  
"Come one, come all! See the finest girl in France, make an entrance to entrance! Dance la Esmeralda, Dance!"

In a puff of smoke that Aishe only hoped was just a eye trick, Clopin was gone, and replaced by a beautiful girl, and the goat from earlier. The lady, Esmeralda, twirled her thin purple dress and flaunted her luscious looks to all the men in the audience, doing splits, and twirls, and swinging on banners.

The goat, Djali, was in the corner of the stage, doing different tricks for the young children, and receiving quite the applause.

Before anyone realized it, Clopin was back on the stage, distracting the crowd as Esmeralda left.

"Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for! Here it is, you know exactly what's in store! Now's the time we laugh until our sides get sore! Now's the time we crown the King of Fools!

"So make a face that's horrible and frightening! Make a face as gruesome as a gargoyle's wing!  
For the face that's ugliest will be the King of Fools!"

He leaned more to the crowd and asked in his sing-song tone, "Why?"

"Topsy Turvy!" they shouted back.

"Ugly folk, forget your shyness!"

In the background, some boy with a viking hat was being chased by a girl dressed as a dragon.

"Topsy Turvy!"

"You could soon be called "Your Highness"!"

People began to climb up on the stage, and one by one, Esmeralda, who had returned with a crown, removed their masks, each reveling the kind of face that parents show babies to make them laugh.

"Put your foulest features on display! Be the king of Topsy Turvy Day!" the crowd cheered, as one by one, men got kicked off the stage.

The last one in line, a man that Aishe recognized as Marius from a few streets over, who was scrunching his eyebrows, sticking his chin out to the side, and crossing his eyes, won, and was kissed on the cheek by Esmeralda. A whole group of people climbed onto the stage, and carried him down onto the ground, after Clopin plopped the floppy crown on his head. The group carried Marius on their shoulders, and he happily waved at people, with a silly grin on his face.

Clopin did cartwheels in front of the group, while the crowd sang in a slow march beat "Once a year we throw a party here in town!"

"Hail to the king!" he sang once right on his feet.

"Once a year we turn all Paris upside down!"

A boy in a bright orange jacket followed the group, the hood half-hiding the giant smile on his face.

"Oh, what a king!" Clopin wailed.

"Once a year, the ugliest will wear a crown!"

"Girls, give a kiss!"

A group of girls, lead by a curly redhead with a dark green dress stood up on boxes to give Marius a kiss on the cheek as he passed.

"Once a year on Topsy Turvy day!"

"Don't let ugliness go a-miss!"

"And it's the day we do the things that we deplore!" Clopin sang as he climbed up above the crowd, Marius not far behind.  
"On the other three hundred and sixty-four! Once a year we love to drop in, where the beer is never stoppin'! For the chance to pop some popinjay, and pick a king who'll put the "top" in Topsy Turvy Day!"

Clopin took Marius's hand, and began to spin him the was a man spins a pretty girl.

"Mad and crazy, upsy-daisy, Topsy Turvy Day!"

The gypsy the let go of Marius's hand, and let him fly off into a crowd of people waiting to catch him.

He then bowed a few times, before climbing down to the ground.

Aishe shook her head, watching the crowd toss and turn Marius like a rag doll. Before she knew it, there was a tap on her shoulder. She turned around on heel to face Clopin, mask-off, wiping his face on his sleeve.

"Good show?" he asked, grinning.

"Y-yes. Very good show."

Her lips betrayed her, and formed a smile.

"Now, I didn't traumatize you too much, did I, Mademoiselle?"

"Oh, oh no, of course not."

"Lovely! I have to go, continue the festivities. Enjoy this Topsy Turvy day, no?"

"Of course,"

The man was already walking away, adjusting the mask back on his face. Aishe started off in the opposite direction, over to where Esmeralda was doing tricks with her goat.

No, Clopin hadn't traumatized her. Wasn't even that scary.

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**Whoo! Hunchback of Notre Dame all the way! If you can't tell, I'm a humongous Clopin fan. Now, keep in mind, this was not a ClopinxOC story. I don't roll like that. I just think it's great to have him interacting with characters! **

…**.. Did any of you notice the surprise guests I had in there? Review with the ones you spotted, and I'll see about writing you- yes, you- a story with Clopin of your choice! Now, won't that be grand? Yes, yes it will. **

** Also, if we've got any Hunger Games fans out there, I was kindly asked to advertise their new RP forum on here, so, vwallah! From what I've gathered, it's the Hunger Games that the people in Capitol have to do, after the uprising. Sounds pretty good to me! It's called "Bloody Hell; the 76th annual Hunger Games", or something like that...**

**Here's the link! ** .net /myforums /ThatOneMentalGirl/ 4487676 **(Just take out the spaces)**

** See, I wouldn't have written this, if yesterday hadn't been the start of my hometown's summer festival! I couldn't resist. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please review! I love ya'll! :) -LightIsTheKey14**


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